Bassist Marcus Shelby, part of the Jazz in the Neighborhood concert at the David Brower Center on Sunday May 17. Photo: courtesy John Herbst
May 15, 2015 7:00 am
On any given night one can find a handful of jazz gigs in Berkeley interesting enough to coax even a casual fan out of the house. But this Sunday offers something altogether rare with a convergence of two events that auger well for the future of the scene.
From noon to 5 p.m., the Berkeley High jazz program’s 20th annual Jazz on Fourth Street fundraiser turns the shopping district into a music-filled street party. And at the David Brower Center from 2-5 p.m., Jazz in the Neighborhood celebrates its second anniversary with a fundraiser and concert featuring the lustrous vocalist Clairdee, pianist Ken French, bassist Marcus Shelby, trumpeter (and Berkeley High alum) Erik Jekabson, pianist Glen Pearson, saxophonist/flutist Mary Fettig, trombonist Wayne Wallace, and drummer Hamir Atwal.
While the events might compete for some of the same audience on Sunday, they’re synergistic in the best possible sense. Jazz On Fourth is all about supporting a program that has produced more top-shelf jazz talent over the past four decades than any other high school in the country not specifically devoted to the arts. And every year a new crop of BHS students matriculate to some of the nation’s top music schools, from Berklee and the Manhattan School of Music to Oberlin and the USC Thornton School of Music. Should those alumni decide to pursue music as a vocation, Jazz In the Neighborhood is working to make sure that there are still some reasonably remunerative gigs if they return to the Bay Area.
read more: http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/05/15/jazz-blooms-in-berkeley/
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